Peter von Bülow

Peter von Bülow has a doctorate in Engineering from the Institute for Lightweight Structures and Conceptual Design (ILEK) at the University of Stuttgart (director Werner Sobek). He also holds degrees from the University of Tennessee: an M.S. in Civil Engineering, and a B.Arch. from the School of Architecture. His area of research deals with the use of evolutionary computation for exploration and optimization of structural systems. Professor von Bülow has worked professionally in both architecture and engineering offices in Germany and the US including: RFR-Stuttgart, Greiner Engineering and SL-Rasch. He also spent a year at IL (under Frei Otto) as a Fulbright Scholar.

Some of von Bülow's research work involved contracts with the U.S. Air Force for the development and blast testing of thin shell, light weight, personnel shelters. He also worked for the U.S. Navy in designing a modular family of frame supported tensile structures for use as maintenance facilities by the US Marine Corps. Other research efforts have included the load testing of a grid shell dome and design and construction of a branching steel "tree" structure. He continues a special interest in innovative structural systems and computational exploration of form.